How to Choose the Right Driveway Alert System

A driveway alert system is an excellent choice to provide enhanced security as well as alerting you to the presence of a person, a car or something else.

There are different types of alert systems using a variety of technologies. Each has their pros and cons to weigh up depending on the planned use and your personal requirements at home.

Lets now run through how to choose the right driveway alert system.

Do You Want to Know When Someone is In Your Driveway?

If you own a property with a long driveway that cannot be fully seen from the road, then as the homeowner it’s not possible to know when someone has pulled up at the front of the house.

Depending on the length of the driveway and how fast the person is driving, estimating their arrival so you can greet them at the door (and not wait too long to do so) isn’t really possible. However, using a driveway alerting product, you can get notified in advance.

Bear in mind that a driveway alert sensor doesn’t have to be located right at your front door to pick up when they’ve finally driven up. It could be a short distance away with a clear line of sight to pick up a signal when they’ve driven up a short distance from the front of the property. This gives you a little bit more of an advanced warning which is nice to have.

Types of Driveway Warning Systems

There are different types of warning systems, each which apply different technologies to the task. Let’s run through these now:

Motion detector (PIR) – This is the most popular type of alarm system for driveways. It picks up movement and a change in heat levels that usually accompanies it. The sensor will be triggered from this or by their movement alone.

Magnetometer– The magnetometer is a detector that picks up metal objects entering the area. It won’t detect human beings and doesn’t pick up motion or heat level changes. It’s a good option if all you care about is knowing when new vehicles have pulled up in your driveway but won’t alert you about someone walking up the driveway and looking around.

Pneumatic (rubber hose) – This is designed to be placed in the driveway. It uses a hardened rubber hose with sensors to detect when a vehicle has just driven over it and triggers the pneumatic system. It works off simple pressure which means there’s less chance of interference preventing catching a vehicle arriving.

How Do You Want to Be Alerted?

With this driveway alarm, you can get alerted a variety of ways. Most alerts have one or more alert systems. It might be sending out an email or an SMS text message to alert you or sounding an audible noise to let you know. The notification is simple and is usually configurable depending on what your preference is.

Can Sensors Get Interference?

While most sensors are designed to be weatherproof up to a point, it’s sometimes possible that infrared sensors or other types that transmit a signal wirelessly to a receiver at the house can experience signal degradation.

It’s unusual, but it may happen in extreme weather conditions. The pneumatic system is more direct and situated closer to the house, so it less likely to have a problem in this regard.